In the past, foldable dollies have been known in which a conventional dolly is equipped with movable arms that rotate between a collapsed, folded position and an extended, deployed position for the carrying of trays containing various products, such as bread, rolls and the like. Conventional foldable dollies are constructed with notched sleeves rotatably and slidably mounted on vertical frame members. The sleeves provide mounting means for the arms, and the notches mate with protrusions on the frame members to provide a stop for the arms in the deployed position. To deploy the arms, the sleeves are rotated until the notches are over the protrusions, at which point the sleeves are allowed to slide down on the frame members to engage the protrusions in the notches. Consequently, this configuration must provide clearances between both the notches and mating protrusions and the sleeves and frame members. These inherent clearances permit vibration of the arms when the dolly is wheeled over a threshold or over an irregular or rough surface, and the vibrations are of accordingly greater amplitude at the ends of the dolly's arms. The greater displacement at the arm ends, in conjunction with the clearances inherent in the conventional designs, can cause the arms to splay and the trays to fall, risking damage to the goods and to the dolly.
Accordingly, it would be highly advantageous to provide a foldable dolly having movable arms, that, when extended in the deployed position, will not splay due to vibrational forces and to the inherent clearances needed to permit the arms to be folded.
Another characteristic of the conventional foldable dolly constructed in the manner previously discussed is that the sleeves on which the arms of the dolly are mounted will often bind against the dolly frame when the operator attempts to vertically slide and rotate the sleeves from the deployed position to the folded position. Consequently, it would be advantageous to provide a foldable dolly having arms that will move easily, without binding, between the collapsed, folded position and the extended deployed position.
The present invention solves the aforementioned problems simply and economicaly, providing a dolly that minimizes the risk of damage to the goods being carried and to the dolly itself, as well as having arms that fold smoothly into the collapsed position, as set forth below.